Doximity: 'A secure Facebook for doctors'

"An emergency room doctor had a patient come in, took an X-ray and had some weird findings in the [patient's] intestine," recalled Tangney.

The doctor takes a picture of the X-ray with her smartphone and then posts it to the online network.

"There were a couple other physicians who chimed in and said, 'I've seen that before, that patient has little metal grill brush wires in their intestine,'" Tangney said.

The doctors swap messages on what to do and later decide to write a paper: metal shards are increasingly ending up in food, and grill brush standards need to be tougher to prevent it.

"Here's three people who would have never found each other in the past," Tangney said, "[who] have teamed up to write a paper that's been published about an area that probably needs some attention."

Information sharing is at the heart of Doximity. Tangney describes it as a online social network for physicians to collaborate, share lab reports and "securely communicate about things that matter." The goal is helping doctors provide better care.

The social network is free to the doctors. Tangney says the company is beginning to make money by charging lawyers, journalists and bankers for finding medical experts.

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